Turning to the chapter that we
have read in Isaiah, Isaiah 65, and I'll read again the paragraph
that's marked from verse 8 through 9 and 10. Isaiah 65 and reading
from verse 8 through verses 9 and 10. Thus saith the Lord, as the
new wine is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not,
for a blessing is in it, so will I do for my servants' sakes,
that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth a seed
out of Jacob, and out of Judah, an inheritor of my mountains,
and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell
there, and Sharon shall be the fold of flocks, and the valley
of Achor, the place for the herds to lie down in, for my people
that have sought me. Taking account of the context
here in this chapter, we see in the opening part, certainly
the first five verses, we have the condemning of those who were
the self-righteous amongst them. Those words at verse 5 read,
Of those which say, Stand by thyself, come not near to me,
for I am holier than thou. And God says, These are a smoke
in my nose, a fire that burneth all the day. There's the condemning
then in the opening verses of this chapter of those who who
were the self-righteous. And of course we can think immediately
of those that we read of in the New Testament, the sect of the
Pharisees, the Lord Jesus himself speaks of one there in Luke 18,
those two men who go to the temple at the hour of prayer, one was
a Pharisee and the other was a publican. The Pharisees so
highly respected amongst the Jews and how that man looked
so disparagingly upon the public, one who was so much despised
by the Jews. The publicans were tax gatherers,
they were collecting tribute for the Romans, and they were
so hated by their fellow Jews. And so these two men, and yet
how the Lord speaks of the republican as the man who goes to his house
as the justified sinner because he comes only to beg mercy whereas
all that the Pharisee does is speak of himself and his own
religion all that he did that he would fast twice in the week
how he paid tithes of all that he possessed how he was no extortioner
or adulterer In no way was he like that Pharisee. He looked
so disparagingly upon that man. There is the example then of
what's spoken of here in this fifth verse of the chapter. And
it's amazing, isn't it, that it was to this sect of the Pharisees
that Paul the Apostle once belonged. He was a Pharisee, he says. He
was the son of a Pharisee. He says, as such in the Lord
he was a Pharisee. What did that mean? Well, he
considered himself as righteous before the law of God. He was
such a self-righteous man. And now the Lord Jesus speaks
of the terrible judgment that God himself is going to visit
upon those Pharisees. The language that we have in
Matthew 23, that chapter that is full of woes, Terrible woes pronounced upon
sinners, and amongst those whom the Lord speaks of are the Pharisees. There at verse 25, Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you may clean the outside
of the cup and of the platter, but within thou full of extortion
and excess, thou blind Pharisee, transfers that which is within
the cup and the platter. that the outside of them may
be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees,
hypocrites! For ye are like unto whited sepulchres,
which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full
of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear
righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and
iniquity. And here, as I say in the opening
verses of this chapter that we read, we read of those self-righteous
ones whom the Lord condemns. But then, also, we see in the
opening part of this chapter how the sovereign grace of God
is so exalted In the opening words, of course, God says, I
am sought of them that ask not for me. I am found of them that
sought me not. I said, behold me, behold me,
unto a nation that was not called by my name. And then I have spread
out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people, which walketh
in a way that was not good. after their own thoughts. And
as I say, then he goes on to condemn really those who were
so prominent amongst the Jews, those awful Pharisees. But how
the sovereign grace of God is so exalted in what we read in
the opening verse of the chapter. And again, it's interesting when
we consider what goes before that first verse. Really, the
previous chapter is all in the form of a prayer. And the prayer
that is being made there really begins in chapter 63, verse 15. In that chapter we have a prayer,
look down from heaven and behold from the habitation of thy holiness
and of thy glory. Where is thy zeal and thy strength,
the sounding of thy bells, and of thy mercies toward me? Are
they restrained? Here is the prophet praying unto
his God. And the prophet continues his
prayer through the remaining verses of that chapter into chapter
64, or that they would just rend the heavens, he says, that they
would just come down, that the mountains might flow down at
thy presence. And so he prays right through
to the end of the chapter. Verse 12, "...Wilt thou refrain
thyself of these things, O Lord? Wilt thou hold thy peace and
afflict us very sore?" He's praying, he's praying for the people of
Israel. He's not only God's messenger,
God's prophet to them, but he's praying for them. And it's a
long prayer as we see from that 15th verse in chapter 63 right
through to the end of chapter 64. And then, here is the answer to the prayer
I am sought of them that ask not for me I am found of them
that sought me not surely there's a principle that we learn here
and it's this that there's nothing worthy in our praying it's not that our prayers are
so worthy that they earn some blessing from God Remember what
the Lord Jesus says concerning the heathen in the Sermon on
the Mount. They think that they shall be heard for their much
speaking. Because they can multiply words, because they can say many
words, the heathen think that they will be heard. But the reason
why our prayers are answered is to be found in God and the
goodness of God and the grace of God. That doesn't mean we're
not to pray. We ought always to pray, says
Christ, and not to faint. We're to pray without ceasing.
But we're not to trust in our prayers. The principle is that
we're to look to God, we're to trust in the Lord God Himself. What do we have at the end of
this 65th chapter? Those words of verse 24, It shall
come to pass that before they call, I will answer. And while
they are yet speaking, I will hear." And who are those who
recognize the goodness of God and the grace of God? Well, really,
amongst those of Israel, it was only a small remnant really. We read there in the opening
chapter of the book, except the Lord left us a very small remnant. We should have been as Sodom
and Lycaon to Gomorrah. And it's that remnant that are
really being spoken of in the words that I've read for a text
this morning. These words that we have in verses
8, 9 and 10, Thus saith the Lord, as the new wine is found in the
cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for a blessing is in
it. So will I do for my servants'
sake, that I may not destroy them all. And I will bring forth
a seed out of Jacob and out of Judah, an inheritor of my mountains,
and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell
there. And Sharon shall be a fold of
flocks, and the valley of Acre a place for the herds to lie
down in, for my people that have sought me." The nation really
was ready right for God's judgments. But God would ever and always
preserve his remnants, his true spiritual people in the midst
of the nation. And I want us, as we look at
these three verses, to consider something of this doctrine of
the remnants. The doctrine of the remnants,
which is always there, the true people of God, in the midst of
so much confusion, so much compromise at times, so much self-righteousness. First of all to say something
with regards to the restoration of this remnant, the restoration
of Israel really. To remark then at the beginning
with regards to the historical context in which this man Isaiah
is God's servant, God's prophet preaching to Israel. He was ministering
around about 700 years before the birth of Christ. 700 years before Christ. Now,
there was a terrible incident of course that occurred 100 years later, almost 100 years
later, 605 BC was the time of the Babylonian captivity. That
was the time when the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar came and
came right through the kingdom of Judah, the walled cities fell,
Jerusalem was laid siege to, Jerusalem also fell and The people
are taken away into exile and Jerusalem lies there in ruins. Just a hundred years after the
ministry of this man Isaiah, and at times in the book he does
speak of that that was going to come upon them, God's judgment,
because of their sin. And as we've read through the
chapter there, great sin of course is seen to be that of idolatry. They worship their self-made
idols, really. As he says at verse 3, "...people
that provoke of me to anger continually to my faith, that sacrifice us
in gardens, burneth incense upon altars of brick, which remain
among the graves, and lodge in the monuments which eat swine's
flesh, and broth of abominable things in their vessels, or they
were guilty of many sins, and amongst them that sin of idolatry,
the sin of self-righteousness and so forth. And God would judge
them. But the prophet doesn't just
speak of God's judgments. He also speaks of a remnant being
preserved and a remnant being restored. And remember how that's
made quite clear back in chapter 6 where we have the record of
the call of Isaiah to his ministry. And we're at the end of that
6th chapter. Verse 11, Isaiah says, Lord how
long? You see, he's been told what
his ministry is going to do. Verse 9, Go tell these people,
Hear ye indeed, but understand not, and see ye indeed, but perceive
not. Make the heart of the people
fat, make their ears heavy, shut their eyes. They are refusing
his ministry in the mind, the majority of the people, because
God's judgment is going to fall upon them. And then that verse
11, Then said I, Lord, how long? And he answered, Until the city
be wasted. and without inhabitant, and the
houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate. And the
Lord hath removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking
in the midst of the land." He's speaking of what's going to happen
with the Babylonian captivity, the land is going to be deserted.
But then, here is the promise, "...but yet in it shall be a
tenth, and it shall return." Or there would be a restoration,
and the land would be inhabited again. That was the remarkable
thing. And that's being spoken of in
the words of the text. Verse 9, God says, I will bring
forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah, an inheritor of
my mountains, and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants
shall dwell there, and Sharon shall be a fold of flocks, and
the valley of Acre a place for the herds to lie down in. Sharon
you see in the western parts of that promised land. The Valley
of Acre was in the east, it was near Jericho. But again they're
going to possess the whole of this land. They're going to be
restored after the 70 years in exile. And another prophet who
was ministering the same time as Isaiah, Hosea. Hosea speaks
of the Valley of Acre for a door of hope. The Valley of Acre,
an interesting place really. It's spoken of there at the end
of Joshua 7. And it's associated of course
with that man Achan. And when they come into the land
they were to destroy the city of Ai. They were not to take anything from that wicked city.
No spoil was to be gathered. Everything was to be destroyed
but That man, that wicked man, Achan,
he takes a wedge of gold and he hides it in his tent. It's
the accursed ink. And he's found out ultimately. You can read it there in that
7th chapter of the book of Joshua. And the place where he's judged,
he's stolen eventually, he's killed, executed. And the place
was called the Valley of Achor, the Valley of Trouble. That's
what Achor means, the Valley of Trouble. But here is the promise,
you see. That God will make the Valley
of Trouble a place for herds to lie down, and there's going
to be prosperity again in the land. This is the promise of
God. Now that's something of the historical
context, as it were. It's a promise that they're going
to be restored, from the captivity. But there's more. There's more
than history, of course, in the Word of God. All these things
that we read of in the Old Testament are written for our learning,
says Paul, upon whom the ends of the world are come. And so,
we would not be doing justice to the Word of God if we didn't
see some gospel application, even from these words. And of
course, the interesting thing is that what we really read of
in the opening verses is the calling of the Gentiles. In verses
1 and 2 there's a contrast between the Gentile nations, as it were,
and the nation of Israel. Verse 1 speaks of those Gentiles. I am sought of them that ask
not for me. I am found of them that sought me not. I said, Behold
me, behold me, unto a nation that was not called by my name.
God didn't call the Gentiles by his name. And then, here is
Israel, I've spread out my hands all the day unto a rebellious
people which walketh in a way that was not good after their
own thoughts. And we know, we know that the
reference in the opening words is to the calling of the Gentiles,
because when we come to the New Testament, Paul actually quotes
those very words. At the end of Romans chapter
10, he speaks of Esaias, there at verse 20, that's simply the
Greek form of the Hebrew name Isaiah, it's the same person.
But it's the Greek form of the name that we have in Romans 1020
but Esaias is very bold and said I was found of them that sought
me not I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me
but to Israel he said all day long I have stretched out my
hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people there's the fulfillment really
of what is contained here in this 65th chapter of Isaiah. Israel were those who really
rejected God. They rejected the Lord Jesus
Christ, He came unto His own, His own received Him, not with
all. What do we read here? Verse 6, God says, Behold, it
is written before me, I will not keep silence, but will recompense,
even recompense into their bosom your iniquities, and the iniquities
of your fathers. Together saith the Lord, which
have burned incense upon the mountains, and blaspheme me upon
the hills. Therefore will I measure their
former work into their bosom. They were rejecters of God, and
so God will deal with them, he will reject them. And of course
we see that when we come to the New Testament, they reject the
Lord Jesus Christ. When we come into the Acts, we
see Paul, initially in his missionary journeys, he will go to the synagogue,
that's where he begins his preaching time and time again. But when
we come to Acts 16, he's in the synagogue in Corinth, and the
Jews reject him again, and he says, I will turn unto the Gentiles. Oh, they rejected. They rejected
God and so God rejects them. And God is a God who always deals
in justice, in equity. They reject Him and He rejects
them. Now, remember how the Lord God
had dealt with the Egyptians long previously back in Exodus. They were the descendants of
Jacob in Egypt, and they're brought into terrible servitude. They're
serving the Egyptians, they're making bricks, they're building
all of the pyramids and all that wonder that is Egypt even to
this day. And in spite of all the persecution
that's upon them, they're multiplying. And in the opening chapters of
Exodus, Pharaoh begins to kill all the male children. He's troubled, you see, because
these people, they just keep multiplying. So you're familiar,
I'm sure, with the account that we have there, how the male children
are taken to the river and drowned in the river. And of course,
in a remarkable, miraculous way, under God's sovereign hand, Moses
is the one who's preserved. He's to be the great deliverer.
But what do the Egyptians do? They make the River Nile a bloody
river. It's a river of blood. It's a
river of murder and of death. And then God, when He raises
up their deliverer in Moses, what is the first of the plagues
that God visits upon those Egyptians. Well, the water throughout the
land is turned to blood. That's the judgment of God. He
made the river a bloody river. And of course Egypt's so dependent
on the Nile and the delta of the Nile for its water, for its
crops and everything. But every part of the nation
under that first plague, all the waters become blood. And
then when it comes to the last of the plagues, the 10th plague,
what does God do? He destroys all the firstborn
of the Egyptians. Just as those Egyptians under
Pharaoh had sought to kill all the male children of the Hebrews,
so in the 10th plague all the firstborn of the Egyptians is
being killed by the destroying angel, we see quite clearly how
God is equitable. How, we might say, the punishment
fits the crime. The punishment fits the crime.
As we have it here at the end of verse 7, Therefore will I
measure their former work into their bosom. They reap what they've
sown. And that's God's justice. And
here is Israel then, you see. They rejected God. They rejected
God, so God will reject them. But as I said, the Prophet doesn't just speak of
God's judgment, he speaks also of a restoration. They're going
to be restored after the Babylonian captivity. They're going to be
brought back to the land and that's certainly the theme that
we have in these verses 8, 9 and 10. As a new wine is found in the
cluster and one says destroy it not or a blessing is in it
so will I do for my servants sake that I may not destroy them
all he says. There's going to be a restoration,
there's going to be remnant. Now as I said, these words at
the beginning of the chapter are taken up there in Paul's
letter to the Romans and he quotes them quite specifically at the
end of that 10th chapter and then what follows is chapter
11. And chapter 11 of Romans very
much speaks of the restoration of the Jews, strangely. He says
at the end of the 10th chapter, doesn't he? Isaiah is very bold.
These are bold words that Isaiah is speaking at the beginning
of this 65th chapter. And then when we come into chapter
11, we have that question, I say, then hath God cast away his people. God forbid, says Paul. Am not
I an Israelite? Has God altogether cast off his
people? And Paul says, No, I'm an Israelite. And then he goes on. Chapter
11 is a remarkable chapter there in Romans. But what is the restoration? What is the restoration that
is being spoken of? Who are they who are to be restored? Is it really going to be the
whole nation of the Jews? Romans 11 is a much disputed
chapter. But I want to endeavour to show
that even there it's also teaching us the same truth that we have
here in chapter 65 of Isaiah. It's teaching us the doctrine
of the remnant. There's a remnant, always a remnant. We'll make
some reference again to Romans 11 but dwelling really upon what's
said here in this chapter in Isaiah. Look at the language
that we have in our text. In verse 8, he speaks of a cluster. This new wine is found in the
cluster. Not all of the vine, he's not
speaking of all of the vine there, he's speaking of a cluster. And
then in verse 9 he goes on to speak of a seed out of Jacob,
and he speaks of mine elect. I will bring forth, he says,
a seed out of Jacob, and out of Judah, an inheritor of my
mountains, and mine elect shall inherit it. Now, again, there in Romans,
Romans 11.5, Paul says, at this present time also there is a
remnant according to the election of grace. of remnant in Israel
according to the election of grace. Again, at verse 7, he
says, the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded. It's always God's purpose or
God's purpose which is seen in election. There's always that
elect remnant. But then, As we read through
that chapter, Romans 11, at verse 26, it says, "...and so all Israel
shall be saved." All Israel shall be saved. What does it mean? Well, there
are many who would say there's going to be a national conversion. All of Israel is going to be
signed. Of course, we know that there's
now a nation of Israel again, but it's not a nation that's
made up of a Christian people. There are many secular Jews there. There are many Orthodox Jews.
But how many of those people, those Jewish people, in that
nation are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. So they say, well,
at the end there will be wholesale conversions, there'll be a great
reviving amongst the Jews, and all Israel, all Israel shall
be saved. But how is all Israel really
to be defined? That's the important thing. What
does all Israel mean? Well, again, turning to those
chapters in Romans, in chapter 9, at verse 6, Paul says quite
clearly, they are not all Israel, but are of Israel. They are not all Israel, but
are of Israel. What does that mean? Well, it certainly would indicate
that we're not to think of all Israel as the whole of that ethnic
nation, that people. The important thing when we turn
to those chapters in Romans 9, 10 and 11 is that they form a
unit. We have to see those three chapters
as quite a definite unit. There's a connection between
each of the three chapters. And so what we read at the beginning
of chapter 9 has some significance with what we read at the end
of chapter 11 because it's a whole. And of course it's really a whole
of the complete book of Romans. But that particular section is
dealing with the matter of Israel and the condition of Israel in
the days of the Apostle and also the condition of Israel through
this gospel day even to the end. That's what Paul is dealing with.
And as we consider that section as a unit, there are two things
we should take account of. First of all, how does the whole
section begin? What do we read there in the
opening verses of chapter 9? where we have a great cry that
comes from Paul. Really, it's a tremendous cry. I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost,
that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart,
for I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for
my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh, who are Israelites,
to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants,
and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises,
whose are the fathers, and of whom, as concerning the flesh,
Christ came, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen. What a crisis! He so yearns over
his own people, the Israelites. He's one of them, but he could
wish himself a curse for them, to see them being saved. Now,
that's a remarkable way in which this whole section opens. But
it's something of a sham, really, if Paul is going to go on in
chapter 11 and say that all Israel is going to be saved. Why would
he be in such a state, so burdened, so troubled? Why so earnest in
that sense, as he speaks there in the opening words of that
ninth chapter, if he knows, because these things have been revealed
to him by the Holy Ghost, he knows that eventually all Israel
to be saved. Doesn't it indicate something
of a sham in what he's saying in those words at the beginning
of verse 9 so there's Paul's cry, we have to remember Paul's
cry but also we have to remember Paul's calling I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not I also am an Israelite God has
not altogether cast off his people there in Romans 11 in the verses 13 to 15 we see
a certain truth turning just to those verses Romans 11 verse
13 rather verse 12, verse 12 then verse 13 He says, Now if the fall of them
be the riches of the world, speaking of the Jews, and the diminishing
of them the riches of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness!
For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle
of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. What is he saying here? Well,
they've been rejected. They've rejected Christ, And
God has rejected them. Through their fall, salvation
has come unto the Gentiles to provoke them to jealousy. And
he says, nevertheless the fall of them be the riches of the
world, the Gentile world, the diminishing of them, the riches
of the Gentiles, how much more their fullness. What is their
fullness? That's a question that he puts in verse 12. And then
he says in verse 13, I speak to you Gentiles inasmuch as I
am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office. Isn't
Paul himself a most significant part of the fullness? The fullness of Israel. Peter
was to be the apostle to the circumcision and Paul was to
be the apostle to the uncircumcision. Peter the Apostle to the Jews,
Paul the Apostle to the Gentiles. And there is that mystery, the
great mystery of the calling of the Gentiles. It's a mystery
that's being spoken of, of course, here in the first verse of Isaiah
65. But it's dealt with in some detail,
isn't it, when we come to the New Testament, Ephesians. Ephesians
chapter 3, and the first eight verses of that chapter. Paul
speaks of the revelation of this mystery that God has a purpose
to accomplish amongst the Gentiles. How is it going to be accomplished?
Well, initially, primarily, it's through the ministry of this
man Paul, who is such an Israelite of the seed of Abraham, of the
tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew of the Hebrews, he calls himself.
And yet, He is that one who is to take the gospel to sinners
of the Gentiles. And he says there in Galatians
3.18, Unto me who am less than all saints is this grace given,
that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches
of Christ. Well, this is a mystery being
revealed. And it's not just in Ephesians
3, we have it again, when he writes to the Colossians. There
in Colossians chapter 1, at verse 23, he says to these Gentile believers
in the city of Colossae, If ye continue in the faith, grounded
and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel,
which I have heard, and which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister.
who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which
is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his
body's sake, which is the church, whereof I am made a minister
according to the dispensation of God which is given through
me for you to fulfill the word of God. Even the mystery, which
hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made
manifest to his saints, to whom God would make known what is
the riches of the glory of this mystery. Among the Gentiles,
which is Christ in you, the hope of glory." He's saying the same
things there in Colossians 1 as he had said at the beginning
of Ephesians chapter 3. In him we have the fullness of
Israel as he exercises his remarkable ministry of preaching the gospel
to the Gentiles. All Israel is to be saved. But who are all Israel? They
are not all Israel that are of Israel, he says. God's true Israel
then is not to be identified with ethnic Israel, those who
are the physical descendants of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob,
who are the Israelites. Well, they are the descendants
of that man whose name was Jacob and his name was changed to Israel. We considered it last Lord's
Day evening there in Genesis 32, at the Brook Jabok, where
the angel wrestled with him, and he wrestled with the angel.
and his name was changed. Well, the Israelites are those
who are descended from Jacob. The Jews in particular, of course,
are descended from one of Jacob's sons, Judah. We know that the ten tribes were
so scattered and lost, but Judah and the little tribe of Benjamin,
and this man Paul was of the tribe of Benjamin, that the Jews,
the very name Jew, comes from Judah. So, all Israel is not to be identified
with all those who were the descendants of Jacob who became Israel. All Israel is not to be identified
with the Jews. How are we to understand then
that expression, so all Israel shall be saved? It's God's spiritual Israel.
For he is not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is circumcision
that which is in the flesh, but circumcision is that which is
in the heart. It's that that's of the Spirit
of God. Remember how Paul spells that
out again, writing there at the end of Romans chapter 2. He is
not a Jew which is one outwardly, neither is circumcision that
which is outward in the flesh, but he is a Jew which is one
inwardly. And circumcision is that which is of the heart, in
the spirit, and not in the letter. It's a circumcision without hands. And that's the true Israel of
God. And there's always this truth,
really, ultimately, of the remnant. They're always a remnant. We have those words, we've referred
to them already in the opening chapter, except the Lord had
left unto us a very little remnant. We should have been like unto
Sodom and Gomorrah, he says. Those wicked cities of the plain.
This is Isaiah beginning his ministry. Who's he ministering
to? He's ministering very much to the remnant. the true Israel
of God, the spiritual Israel. There was always a people in
the midst of ethnic Israel who were God's real spiritual people
throughout the Old Testament. And when we come to the New Testament
we see that that spiritual Israel is to be found not only amongst
Jews now but also amongst Gentiles. And God has said I will leave
in the midst an afflicted and poor people and they shall trust
in the name of the Lord." These are the people, they're poor
people, they're afflicted people. There's that remarkable hymn,
I suppose in a sense it's not one that's suitable for public
worship, but it's a hymn that's worth reading and pondering over
in our own devotions 223 the outcasts the outcasts of Israel
Lord pity outcasts vile and base the poor dependents on thy grace
whom men disturb as call by sinners and by saints withstood for these
too bad for those too good condemned or shunned by all too bad for
the saints those who are self-righteous, as we see here in verse 5. But
on the other hand, too good for the sinners. Speckled birds,
I suppose. That's a true Israelite God.
They're a strange people, a peculiar people. They always were so. It's the doctrine of the remnant. And that's what we have here
in the words of the text. The Lord says, as the new wine
is found in the cluster, and one saith, Destroy it not, for
a blessing is in it. So will I do for my servants'
sake, that I may not destroy them all. Or they're not going
to be utterly destroyed. There will be a restoring of
those who were taken into captivity. There will ever be a true remnant,
a witness to the Lord in the earth. I will bring forth a seed
out of Jacob and out of Judah, an inheritor of my mountains,
and mine elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell
there." There's that historical context. We see it, of course,
in the first place in terms of this ministry that the man is
exercising in his own day, but there's that prophetic fulfillment
under the Gospel. Sharon shall be a fold of flocks,
and the valley of Achor a place for the herds to lie down in.
For my people that have sought me. Here is the mark of those
who are that true remnant. They're those who have sought
Him. They're those who seek after Him. They're those who cry to
Him. They're those who call upon Him. They're a praying people. But they're not trusting in their
prayers as we said. in the previous chapter well
back to the end of chapter 63 we have that long prayer and
how does God answer that long prayer of the prophet? well as
I said he answers it with those words at the beginning I am sought
of them that ask not for me I am found of them that sought me
not always not their praying that saves them It's the God
who has appointed prayer. It's the God who hears prayer.
The God who answers prayer. Before they call, He says, I
will answer. While they are yet speaking,
I will hear. All these strange people, and
yet these are those who are the true Israel of God. And what do we do? Well, we are
to look to ourselves, and to examine ourselves, and to prove
ourselves, and we do it in the light of God's Word. We bring
everything to this touchstone, to the law and to the testimony,
says this prophet Isaiah, if they speak not according to this
word it is because there is no light in them. We must try ourselves
and test all our profession here then in the word of God. Ought
to be those who are that true Israel, that spiritual remnants
who are indeed the Lord's believing people. May the Lord bless to
us his word. We're going to sing our concluding
praise, the hymn 690 to the tune Pembroke, 719. The second verse reads, A remnant,
small of humble souls, His grace mysteriously controls By sweet
alluring call, They hear it and his person view, They learn to
love and follow too, And take him for their all. The Hymn 690,
the tune 719.